Love and Fear

Chapter 5

Stress was a killer, literally, Dr. Eva Marshal felt like she was slowly dying. Her and her team had spent countless days and nights tracking this THING. It started when someone posted a picture online. Then reports on the internet started flooding in. It was a small town, tight knit and quiet.
But there had been murders and people started to go missing. What was strange was not the grainy photos of “monster footprints” but the fact that all the cases were the same and dated back to 1886. There were no pictures of the creature itself, only evidence that it existed. It could very well have been a sadistic serial killer's idea being passed down from one person to another over the years but that didn't seem right. Eva and her team agreed that it must be a new species of animal that preyed on humans as much of the evidence pointed to the creature eating the people it killed.
They thought it was worth checking out as major discoveries often looked to be something they were not. At the very least they might be able to find a culprit of the murders and bring them to justice. On a high note she had been able to hire someone to do the busy work of cataloging, filling and storing all the papers they had, giving the tired team a chance to focus on this THING and get some rest.

Speaking of new workers, he was due to arrive soon. Eva straightened her desk a bit. As tired as she was she still needed a professional look. As she put the last paper away there was a quiet knock on her door. “Come in.” She heard a click as the door handle turned. A young man entered. He was of a medium build problily about average adult male human height, he seem to be in fairly good shape though with a bit of a belly. His hair was brown, his eyes were light brown and his skin was light. He looked excited and Eva allowed that to spread to her. It was always good when a new person was excited. He offered a hand to her and she took it. His grip was tight, that was good. It meant he was strong willed. “You must be Seth Carson.” His eyes lit up “ yes that's me.” His voice was not as deep as she expected it to be and had a bit of a southern accent, probably from his heritage. “Have a seat Mr. Carson.” Eva requested motioning to a chair near her desk.
Seth pulled it up and sat down. "Why are you here?" Seth eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "To work?" Eva shook her head. " No, you are here to learn and teach." Seth nodded in response. "Now, my team is run thin and I don't have time to talk about rules." Eva stated. She opened a drawer on her desk and rummaged through it, producing a folder." Eva handed it to Seth, he took it in his hands almost tentatively. "I wrote down everything you need to know, including scheduling, and duties. You are to listen to any other researchers if they need help. Got it." Eva explained. " You're dismissed," she said, shoeing Seth out with her hand.
He left and closed the door as he did so. As soon as it latched, Eva was once again left with her troubles. The silence pressed close and she was tempted to turn on the radio that sat on her desk just to feel less alone. At least she had stuff to work on, she hired several people to catch the THING. Preparations were being made and plans set in place. They were almost ready to get it.